Improvement in sleds



m35@ tiuitmi @www tant' -CONSTANTINE DE BODISCO, OF ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA.

Letters Patent No. 88,457, dated March 30, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT 1N sLEDs.

The Schedule referredlto in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GoNs'rANTrNn Dn Bonrsco, of St. Petersburgin the Empire of Russia., have invented a new andl improved Sled, for sliding down ice-hills, or ice-mountains; and I do hereby declare that the foilowing is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to the form and construction of sleds to be used ou ice-mountains, similar to those of Russia.

It is necessary that sleds used ou these hills should be much stronger in construction than those used elsewhere. I therefore construct my sled entireiy of metal, the runners ofsteel or wrought-iron, case-hardened, and the body of sheet-iron, and all properly welded and riveted together.

For the purpose of securing the greatest amount of speed for the sled, I make the runners perfect-ly parallel with each other, and have them to curve np to the body of the sled, at both ends. l

The steel of which the runners are made, is to b perfectly smooth, and highly polished, and not over one-fourth of an inch in thickness, with rounded edges, so as not to cut-the ice, and to oier as little resistance to the motion of the sled as possible.

In the accompanying drawings- Figures l and 3 represent a double sled, or a sled for two persons.

Figure 2 represents a sled intended for one person. The top of this sled is entirely covered by asingle plate of iron.

Figure 4 represents a sectional view of the guides.

In figs. l and 3, A B G represent sheet-iron plates,

running across the top of the sled, over which is strapped a cushion.

In going down an ice-hill, on these sleds, a gentleman sits on the cushion, in front, and a lady, resting her hands on his shoulders, kueels behind him, on that part of' the cushion over the space between the plates B and C, causing a depression of the cushion therein7 which, while giving the lady a secure and iirm position on the sled, increases the speed-oi the same, by throwing the weight behind.

While the height, width, and length of these sleds may be matters of taste, my experience has proven that the double sleds answer better the purposes for which they are intended, when made three and three-fourths inches high, from eleven to twelve inches wide, and thirty-three inches long.

These sleds are guided, in descending ice-hills, by touching the ice, ou either side of the sled, with the gloved hand or foot, or the sled may he provided with by iig. 4.

These guides consist of the bolt b, (see Iig. 4,) proyided'with the spring c, working in the socket d.

The foot e of the bolt b is iliade of rubber, and its head is provided with the knob f, which extends above the surface of the cushion.

The course of the sled is determined by the force wit-h which the rubber foot e, of the boit b, is pressed down, by the hand, on the ice.

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

herein shown, and provided with the guides d (t, possessing the rubber feet e c,the whole constructed and arranged in the manner and for the purposes herein set forth and described.

y In testimony that I'claim the foregoing invention, I have hereunto set my hand, this 21st day of November, 1868.

GONSTANTINE DE BQDISCO.- Witnesses:

PEDRO DIEZ Dn RIVERA, GEO. W. MCGILL.

guides, on each side, asrepresented by e, iu iig. 3, and

A sled for ice-hills, constructed entirely of metal, as Y 

